Beware scammers offering ‘fools gold’ during Olympics

Heather Massey

Published
7:20 am CDT, Monday, August 15, 2016

Last Friday marked the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio. Over the next two weeks, many of us will be watching the games on TV or online. Unfortunately, Better Business Bureau sees Olympics-themed scams pop up during the summer games.

Olympics scams are variations on scams that are common, like promises of money or a trip that never materializes. Lottery-related scams have been making the rounds leading up to the Olympics. In this scam, “winners” are notified that they’ve been selected out of 10 million email addresses as the winner of an online lottery prize, as well as a trip to Rio to see the Olympics.

Another type of scam to watch out for during the Olympics are phishing attacks. An email will appear to be the original marketing advertisement of the Olympics, but could be an attempt to install malware on your computer in order to steal your personal and financial information. It’s best to avoid opening any attachments or clicking on any links in unsolicited emails. Also, only visit encrypted sites, which will have “https” at the beginning of the URL. Scammers will use phrases like “Rio” and “Rio 2016” in their website address to make themselves seem legitimate.

Scammers have also been known to advertise and sell fake merchandise and claim that it’s official Olympic gear. This counterfeit merchandise could be sold on a website that appears to be legitimate or on online classifieds. Not only are many of these items blatantly fraudulent, they’re often much overpriced.

Better Business Bureau serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin offers the following advice:

- Never pay to collect your winnings. If they are asking you to give them money first, that’s a red flag. Legitimate prizes do not come with processing fees, and taxes are paid directly to the IRS after winnings are collected. Also, if you’re asked to wire money or send a prepaid debit card, that's a major red flag. Remember, you can’t win a contest or lottery you didn’t enter. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

- Never give out personal information to someone you don’t know. Any time someone asks for your bank account number, Social Security number or other sensitive information, that’s an automatic red flag. There is no need to access financial information, like a credit card number, in response to a sweepstakes promotion or email. Even if the email or link appears to be from a trusted source, it could be a phishing message.

- Always verify a website’s security. Whenever you are providing sensitive information such as credit cards or bank information, only visit encrypted sites, which will have “https” at the beginning of the URL.

- Visit the official Olympics website for merchandise. If you want the real deal, visit the official Olympics website to purchase merchandise. Also, remember to use a credit card instead of a debit card when shopping online.

Heather Massey is the regional director for the Permian Basin office of Better Business Bureau serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin. Heather is available for media interviews and speaking engagements. You can reach her by phone: (432) 741-2592 or email: hmassey@permianbasin.bbb.org.